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Couch Trip, The (1988)
** (out of 4)
Disappointing comedy about an escaped mental patient (Dan Aykroyd) who is mistaken for a real psychiatrist and he's asked to take over a radio station for a real doctor (Charles Grodin) who just happens to be having a nervous breakdown. The nut-case replacement becomes a hit with all of his listeners except for a homeless man (Walter Matthau) who knows the truth about him. Considering the cast you can't help but view THE COUCH TRIP as a major disappointment. I'm not sure of the history behind this film but it really does seem as if the three leads signed on to do the picture and then the script was written. Then the screenwriters, already knowing they had these comic geniuses signed on, decided to just come up with the weakest idea and try to pass it off as a story. The entire story is basically your typical mistaken identity thing but it just doesn't work in terms of laughs. You pretty much know a story is in trouble when the cast has to work so obviously hard to try and come up with some laughs. This can be seen as early as the first scene when a man is about to commit suicide and the Aykroyd character walks out onto the ledge to try and talk to him. Just watch how hard and over-the-top Aykroyd is having to act and it's because the material is so weak. All three of the actors give it their all but there's just nothing here for them to work with. Aykroyd goes over-the-top playing this madman but no laughs ever follow. Matthau plays crazy better than anyone else but it just makes you smile and never does it get a laugh. Grodin plays the same type of smug character that he's done throughout his career but it just doesn't work here. The entire film is just one bland joke after another and if it wasn't for the actors giving it their all then you would have hit the eject button after about thirty-minutes.
score /10
Michael_Elliott 28 November 2011
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2525328/ |
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28-2-2021 00:06:06